A New Dawn Side Story: Broken Wings
by Kendell
Summary: Spinoff of "A New Dawn". Cyros' actions redeemed her mother... But cost her a great deal. Coming to the Dragon Temple for recovery, Cyros must now come face to face her own inner demons and save a village from savage raiders to find redemption. Ch. 3 Up!
1. Just What The Doctor Ordered

Alright, just to say this now, this is a spinoff/side story to my "The Legend Of Spyro: A New Dawn" fanfic staring the character Cyros from there. I'm writing this mainly for those who have read that fic and know it, but I'm trying to make this _understandable_ if you haven't. But you'll miss a lot of stuff and it won't make quite as much sense, if I put as much detail into it you'd understand everything without reading it, it'd be unfair to those who have to have to reread all that information a second time. Anyway, this is pretty much a follow up to that and as such **major spoilers present** for A New Dawn. If you haven't read it yet but won't to, don't read this yet!

Anyway, this is pretty much a redemption/recovery story for Cyros after what happened in that fic. This chapter takes place between the final battle of "A New Dawn" and the epilogue (which at time of posting this was unposted). Enjoy!

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><p><em>My name is Cyros. I'm a 24 year old Ice Dragoness. I suppose that's a surprise, considering I'm the <em>_**only **__Ice Dragon born 24 years ago whose still alive… Oh and don't worry, this isn't one of those first person autobiography deals. Delilah, this wacky five-tailed fox my brother knows, wanted me to do the intro to this myself. Says a friend of hers from another dimension wants to write a letter about all this to her mentor, some princess who controls the sun or something important like that, because she thought it had some important lesson in it or… Something. Delilah said her friend needed some background information on me and had me write this. Trust me, that makes a lot more sense if you know Delilah. And if you think that sounds nuts, have her tell you about the "Cupcakes Incident"… On second thought, don't; I've still got nightmares from when she finally broke down and told me the whole story… Anyway, she's not what this story is about._

_For those of you who don't know, I'm the younger daughter of Deadlock, a three-headed Dragoness who rules a race of snake-like beings called Naga. 24 years ago, mom lost her children, her mate, and everything she cares for when Malefor, this horrible monster of a dragon, attacked the temple… But she grabbed two little eggs on her way out of the temple. One was me, the other was Pyrus, my __**slightly **__older brother. Mom has done some terrible things. She tried to sacrifice six baby dragons to bring her own loved ones back to life… She wasn't right in the heads at the time… Neither was I. I almost killed my own brother because of a misunderstanding we had when we were just little kids. I did some really nasty stuff too… That's why we're both taking therapy now. No, we're not insane, taking therapy doesn't make you insane; it just means we're a little messed up and need help to get better… Moving on._

_In the end, I realized what I grade-A fool I'd been all that time and ended up taking a near fatal blow for Spyro and Cynder. I don't think I need to explain who they are, do I? Mom stole their adopted egg and they came to get it back… Anyway, because I did that, mom snapped out of that insane state she'd gotten herself in and got the Naga to help stop this maniac named General Grendel from wiping out all the dragons with this giant monster he woke up… And it also caused me to lose my wings. That's even worse than losing an arm or leg… Not being able to fly anymore… I can't even begin to tell you what it's like… But I became a better dragoness for it in the end. This is the story of how that little bit of character development happened… And how I learned to forgive myself for what I've done… With a little help from a newborn dragon with a knack for cheering people up…_

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><p><strong>Just What The Doctor Ordered<strong>

"Tell me, are you feeling any better today?" asked a fairly large Earth Dragon sitting across the chamber. He was large and strong built, his reddish brown horns sweeping straight back behind his head, his skin an earthy green with light reddish brown wing membranes and under belly. The chamber itself was rather plain, made of the same stone as most of the Dragon Temple, but comfortable, meant to be roomy and calm.

Cyros, a very light blue female Dragoness, laid across from him. Her face was rather long and feminine. Her deep blue horns extended off the back of her head and curled around, somewhat like a goat's with a trio of spikes connected by a light blue fin running between her horns. Her tail ended in a metal ax grafted to her natural bone blade to increase its use as a weapon and on her rather long neck and lower front legs she wore with a black choker decorated with white spikes. No wings adored her back, instead a brown cloak covered her back, tied around her neck. She was much smaller than the larger Earth Dragon who was giving her council, only a young adult.

Cyros looked down, not meeting her therapist's eyes. "A little…" she replied, a somewhat miserable tone to her voice.

The Earth Dragon nodded. "Alright… How are you recovering?"

"Recovering?" asked Cyros, looking up all of a sudden with a bit of anger. "How am I supposed to recover? My wings are gone and I'll never fly again… How am I supposed to recover from that?"

The Earth Dragon gave a sympathetic look. "Cyros, you know that's not what I mean," he stated. "I mean from your exposure to the Darkness. Your wings are a bridge we'll cross when we get there."

"I don't want to wait…" said Cyros, finally calming down and looking down sorrowfully. "Can we please talk about it now?"

"Of course, young dragoness," said the therapist dragon with a nod. "If that's what bothering you the most, we can talk about that instead."

"…Promise you won't tell anyone?" asked Cyros, looking up at him pleadingly. "I don't want anyone to find out…" she continued, she honestly didn't. Cyros may have had her ego thoroughly deflated by her circumstances, but she still had too much pride to have everyone know the truth about how she felt.

"That's part of my job description, Cyros," said the therapist with a sincere tone. "Don't worry, I won't tell a soul unless you tell me I can."

"Alright… I feel like I'm… Like I'm worthless…" said Cyros with a low, dejected tone as she looked down in sorrow. "That's the only way I can describe it… I can't fly and without wings, there's no way I can fight without being able to fly…. What good am I if I can't fight and have to walk everywhere? I just feel like I can't do anything at all to be of use to anyone…" she muttered solemnly. She knew a lot of species never flew a day in their lives and got along fine… But its one thing to never have something at all, its another to have something you use every day of your life and then suddenly lose it forever.

The Earth Dragon shook his head. "You're not worthless, Cyros," he said, looking down at her with sympathetic eyes. "You're just handicapped, that doesn't make someone worthless. It just means you've got to find ways around it."

Cyros scoffed. "Yeah right… So what do I do?"

"Cyros, your mother talks about you a lot in my sessions with her," said the doctor, thinking back to his meetings with the three-headed dragon who was Cyros' mother. "As you know, it's a part of my job not to disclose most of the things I talk with those in my care about, but this is something she's given me permission to tell you should the need arise," he explained. "Your mother says ever since you were a young girl, you've been a very strong willed dragoness. You never give up and hate losing," he stated, looking down at her with caring eyes. "Would you say those are qualities you possess?"

Cyros gave it some thought and sighed miserably. "I guess…" she replied halfheartedly.

"Then Cyros," said the Earth Dragon, putting a paw on her shoulder. "Don't give up now. The Cyros Deadlock tells me about would never give up now… Your concerns are your inability to fly or fight," he said carefully. "The former, I'm not sure how to advise you, but on the latter, I do have advice; find a way to fight without wings. It's far from impossible, most other species do it without any problem. Start there, we have a training room for a reason."

Cyros listened, slowly looking up and giving a nod. "… I guess I can try… I don't see how it could make things worse…"

The therapist nodded. "Good… Now Cyros, I want you to answer me honestly… Are you mad at your mother for this?"

Cyros shook her head instantly. "No… No, not at all," she replied, her tone sturdy and clear. "I know she would never do this to me on purpose. It's myself I'm angry with."

"And why is that?"

Cyros sighed. "Because I know everything I did was my fault. Mom had everything she ever loved taken from her in one day and she went crazy because of that… I just let a misunderstanding twist and corrupt me for years… I know everyone has forgiven me, but I don't forgive myself… Not yet."

The old dragon nodded. "That's actually a perfectly natural and good reaction to have to doing the things you did, but Cyros, you have to realize we all make mistakes. The important thing is that you learn from them and don't make them again. It's bad to make a mistake, it's worse to realize you made one and make no attempt to learn from it."

Cyros gave it some thought and nodded slightly. "… I guess… Thanks doc…"

"You're welcome, Cyros," replied the wise old dragon. "Now, I'm sorry, but I've got another patient waiting to meet me, we'll have to pick up there at our next meeting, Cyros," he said with a kindly smile. "Make sure to do that training, doctor's orders."

Cyros nodded slowly. "Got it… Thanks, Doctor Galen," she said, giving him a small smile back. She truthfully did like him, he listened to her and was never judgmental of her despite everything she'd done… That felt good.

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><p>Cyros walked out of Doctor Galen's chamber to see a very majestic five tailed fox walking towards her. The fox was about her size, with white fur and blue eyes. "Delilah?" asked Cyros, blinking in confusion as the Kitsune began to walk past her into Galen's office.<p>

"Oh, hey Cyros," said Delilah, giving a smile. "How are you doing?"

"Fine… I didn't know you were seeing Doctor Galen…" said Cyros, confusion clear in her face and voice. Despite all of Delilah's… Eccentricities, she hadn't thought of the Kitsune as one in need of therapy. Sure, some of the stuff she said _sounded_ crazy, but as far as Cyros knew she wasn't nearly as nuts as she sounded at times.

"Oh, well this universe is one of the few ones where you can find a quality therapist who sees mythical creatures," explained Delilah, speaking rapidly, something she almost always did.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about the dimensional traveling…" replied Cyros, even more confused than before. She'd learned from her brother and the others how Delilah was apparently from another dimension and had pretty much been passing through this one when she'd met up with him. It was weird, but considering the stuff that happened normally that wasn't as strange as it may otherwise be. She also had a bit of respect for the Kitsune, as she'd been one of the first people to sincerely forgive her. "But why do you even _need_ a therapist?"

"Oh, I want to see if anything can be done about my phobia of cupcakes," said Delilah simply, before hitting herself in the forehead at the confused look Cyros got in response. "Darn it, I keep forgetting you dragons don't know what those are. They're a snack common in most dimensions… There was an incident in another dimension. Just know it started with me being invited over for cupcakes by an alternate version of my best friend who turned out to be a serial killer," she explained, showing a frightened shiver as she spoke. "Trust me, you don't want to know what happened after that, just that I'm now deathly afraid of cupcakes."

Cyros blinked slightly at this explanation. "Ok then… Anyway, I'd best be going, I guess I'll see you later…" she said, a little freaked out by that explanation and the implications of it as she quickly headed off.

"Okay, see yah," replied the Kitsune, back to her cheerful self as she headed into the therapist's office.

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><p>Cyros thought over what Doctor Galen had told her as she walked into the egg chamber. She agreed, it was a good idea and even if it didn't work, she could lose anything because of it. "Still, I should get the Guardians' permission first before I use the training room," she stated, walking forwards, carefully around the eggs and several now hatched baby dragons who darted here and there, playing with one another. "They're in charge here, I don't want to risk getting in trouble," she said to herself. She'd only been here a little over a month, she'd met the Guardians and trusted them somewhat. It helped she'd already met two of them, namely Ember and Demi, who were her age and had been part of Spyro's party when they faced her mother. She liked them, particularly since Ember had been the second person after her brother to forgive her. The other two Guardians and the former Earth Guardian, now a Dragon Elder, were new to her, but quite kind. She still didn't <em>totally<em> trust them.

Cyros looked around carefully for a Guardian or Elder, but saw no one at present except a few parents with their hatchlings. "Now, where are they?" she asked, getting a little impatient looking... Before hearing a low scratching sound. "Huh?" she asked, looking next to her at a little yellow egg on a pedestal from which the sound originated. A small crack then formed on the side of it, spreading out across the vibrant yellow eggshell. A second later, a tiny, vibrant yellow dragon's head pushed its way through the shell, opening her blue eyes and staring right at Cyros. The little child gave a tiny smile and a cute squeak before continuing to break herself free. Cyros just stared wide-eyed as the child broke completely free of her shell, revealing a tiny electric dragoness with little dark blue horns that, while barely nubs at present, curled backwards slightly, a row of tiny dark blue, unformed spikes running the length of her back. No natural weapon had grown on her tail as of yet, and her wings were undeveloped, too tiny to permit flight at this age. The wings were dark blue in their frame with the same vibrant yellow color as her skin covering their membranes.

The child shakily got to her little feet for the first time in her entire life and looked up at Cyros with big blue eyes. She let out a happy cry and waved cheerfully. "Uh… Hi…" replied Cyros, staring at the infant in awkward confusion. Still, something about seeing a baby see the world around it for the first time… Cyros wasn't a romantic by any stretch, but she certainly knew how special it was to see a newborn draw its first breath… Still, another thought entered her mind just then. "I'd better get the Guardians…" she said, looking away from the baby. "Uh, hello! Volteer? Cyril? Ember? Demi? Someone come here please!" she called. "It's important!"

Soon Volteer hurried over from an adjoining room, the fully grown Electric Dragon coming to a stop next to her. "Yes, Cyros, what's wrong?" asked the Electric Guardian in a voice whose speed matched Delilah's.

"Uh, this egg hatched…" said Cyros, pointing to the child without looking. "And now it won't stop staring at me…" she said as she looked at the child, whose eyes had not left her since the baby had hatched. Cyros just stared back for a few moments before realizing this and finally blinking, at which point the newborn cheered happily at her "victory" in the impromptu staring contest.

"Oh my, so it has," replied Volteer, looking down at the infant. "I do believe it is female, the body structure is most definitely feminine in build and the facial structure as well," he reported, looking the little one over. "And a most energetic and healthy little female at that."

Cyros nodded, but a bit unnerved by the fact the child just wouldn't stop staring at her. When she looked at the baby, the child just waved and gave a cheerful cry as before. "Um… Shouldn't we get her parents or something?"

"Sadly, that is not possible," replied Volteer, a bit of sorrow in his voice. "If I'm not mistaken, this little one is an orphan."

"Orphan?" asked Cyros, her unnerved reaction now turning into concern.

Volteer nodded with a rather sad look. "Yes, her parents perished in Empress Tyrania's attack on the temple, and with everything else that's transpired in the intervening time, there has yet to be anyone to adopt her. Not to worry, though. Us Guardians will take care of her, it is our job after all."

Cyros nodded, somewhat relieved. As strange as she found the baby's habit of staring at her for extended periods of time (_without _blinking), she still felt sorry for her. Cyros didn't want to know what it was like to come into the world an orphan with no parents to love her, but was at least glad the Guardians would watch the child. "Alright…" she replied, somewhat hesitantly. "Anyway, I came to ask you if I could use the training chamber."

Volteer looked up from the infant to Cyros. "Oh, well of course, Cyros. But may I ask why?"

"Doctor's orders, my therapist suggested it," said Cyros, keeping the finer details to herself. She hated bringing up her lost wings at all to pretty much anyone other than her therapist or her family and close friends.

"Ah, I see. How is Doctor Galen doing with you? He's a fine therapist, something which came in quite handy following the war," said Volteer. "After the prolonged engagement with Malefor's forces, we certainly required aid of a great many dragons with his expertise in healing psychological injury us who took part in that infernal conflict endured as a consequence of it. You see an unfortunately large number of dragons suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, that is a mental illness stemming from-"

"Uh, yeah, it's going fine," interrupted Cyros quickly before Volteer could go on one of his renowned tangents. "I know I'd be much worse without his help," she continued, true gratitude in her voice. She was grateful to Dr. Galen for all his help in recovering, she'd probably be a depressed wreck without him.

Cyros gave a last look at the baby, who was _still_ looking at her, but now jumping around a bit gleefully on the platform, as if she wanted to play. "… What's she going to be named?"

Volteer looked back at the baby and gave a small smile. "The parents mentioned that if it were a girl, they would've liked to call her Volt."

"Volt," repeated Cyros, smiling at the tiny child lightly. "That's a nice name… Anyway, I'll see you later," she said, hurrying out of the room.

Baby Volt let out a wine, her little face falling as she saw Cyros leave with sad eyes.

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><p>Cyros swung her ax tail around, cleaving a wooden dummy in half at the waist. She then launched a sphere of icy cold energy into the chest of one of the animated ones attempting to attack her, a blast of cold freezing it solid, allowing her to smash it with the broad side of her tail. She panted, spinning around and blasting another with a stream of ice shards, knocking it to the ground. However, she was quickly overtaken from behind and knocked to the ground by two more. She quickly spun to her feet and blasted them away with a surge of razor sharp ice shards. She saw another dummy coming up to attack her and tried to jump out of the way, but unused to not having her wings to assist a bit, didn't get enough height to evade and was struck in the ribs and knocked to the ground. She got back up and sliced the dummy's head off, but by then had been surrounded by five of them and was batted around by them for a few moments before she tried to swing her tail around to slice one in half, succeeding in doing so but having another grab her head and punch her in the gut, the other three striking her from all sides. "S-stop!" yelled Cyros, fear in her voice, causing the dummies to vanish in a burst of magic.<p>

Cyros got back to her feet, catching her breath and regaining her composure, then summoning more dummies and trying the simulation again… Only for the exact same thing almost to happen again… And again… And again until she'd tried the same simulation almost 20 times with nearly the exact same result.

Finally, Cyros just panted heavily as she got to her feet after canceling the simulation, limping over to the wall nearby, hitting it with her paw in frustration. "I must've done this stupid simulation 18 times and it always ends with me getting my tail kicked!" she yelled, slashing the wall with her claws.

"…It's just like I thought… Without my wings I can't fight… And these are just stupid dummies! If this were a real fight, they'd have killed me!" she screamed, repeatedly slashing the wall in her anger and frustration, cutting deep gashes into it. "It should've been easy, but I can't even beat a bunch of stupid dummies! No matter how many times I try, I just _can't_ do it!" she yelled in fury, slashing the wall over and over in anger… Before slowly beginning to cry as she did so. "I… I can't win…" she said, sadness and pain replacing her anger and rage. "Without my wings… I can't do anything… I can't fly, I can't fight… What am I supposed to do?" she asked, stopping her beating on the wall and just letting her tears flow as she let her pain and sorrow come out. "What _can_ I do? I'm… I'm just worthless…" she asked in sorrow, sobbing pitifully… Until she heard a small, concerned cry come from nearby. "Huh?" she asked, turning her head to see little Volt staring right up at her with big, cute, but concerned eyes. Cyros let out a scream and fell backwards in surprise.

"V-Volt?" asked Cyros, staring down at the baby dragoness in wide-eyed shock. "When did you- How did you- The door was closed and- How did you even get in here?" she asked rapidly in complete confusion as to how the tiny dragoness had managed to get into the room and walk up to her without her knowing. The doors would only open if you blasted them with an elemental attack as a safety measure; how did a _newborn_ manage to get past that? She then remembered she was crying and quickly rubbed the tears from her eyes. "How did you get in here?"

Volt just started jumping around energetically, then making silly faces, followed by rolling on the ground (and both sideways and frontward), and finally doing headstands with funny looks on her face. The little dragoness just kept this up until finally Cyros couldn't help herself, beginning to laugh quite hard at the little dragoness' antics. Volt responded by clapping her little paws gleefully and let out a cheerful little cry.

"Thanks, I really needed that…" admitted Cyros as she stopped laughing, glad to have the little child cheer her up, even if she had absolutely no idea how the baby had gotten into the room. She rubbed the newborn lightly on the head with a small smile. "You're a cute little scamp, you know that?" she asked, getting a cute giggle from Volt. "But Volteer is probably worried about you, we'd better get you back to the nursery… And maybe find out how she got" she said, a little sorry it had to be so. Even if she was a little unnerved by the fact a baby dragon had somehow snuck all the way to the training room unattended, she did appreciate the baby coming in and cheering her up. "Thanks though, that really did help…"

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><p>Cyros carried Volt back to the nursery and set her down in front of Volteer. "I have no idea how, but she just… Appeared in the training room with me."<p>

Volteer looked perplexed. "In the training room? But the doors in the temple are supposed to be childproof, they require a burst of elemental discharge of some sort in order to activate and untrained children are incapable of managing anything of the sort," he stated in his characteristic rapid form of speech. "I don't think this has ever happened before…"

"I know," said Cyros, looking down at the baby with a confused look. Volt just bounced around her and Volteer's legs in her seemingly perpetually happy state. "Like I said, she just did it somehow. I didn't even know she was in the room until she was right beside me… Still, don't be mad at her. I kind of needed her to come cheer me up, I really appreciate it."

"Well, I'm certainly glad her visit was beneficial to you," said Volteer, looking down at the child. "And I'm sure it's just a malfunctioning door, sometimes the sensors to detect the elemental triggers can be temperamental and trigger at inopportune moments, a minor glitch that we can clear up without much difficulty. You see the sensors work by-" he said, looking up to find Cyros gone. He looked around, blinking in confusion. "My word, looks like you're not the only one who can disappear at a whim, Volt," he stated, looking down at the child, who once more had a sad, dejected look on her face as she watched Cyros leave.

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><p>Cyros slowly headed back towards her room, feeling in a bit higher spirits now after her encounter with Volt. The little dragoness had made her happy, even with her family back together, she hadn't been doing much laughing lately and had forgotten how good it felt. She was tired, and she still felt awful she'd failed so miserably at what she'd been trying to do. "It's not just that I can't fight anymore… It's that I can't do anything dragons are supposed to be able to do…" muttered Cyros sadly. "I can't fly, and that means I can't fight. Outside flat places or stairs, I can't get anywhere and it'll take me forever to get back to Serpent's Edge if I can't fly… I'm worthless without my wings," she muttered, before turning a corner and letting out a surprised yell. "Volt?" she asked, looking down to see the little dragoness <em>somehow<em> in front of her around the bend. "But… How did… You were clear back there…" she asked in total disbelief as she pointed back to the nursery.

Cyros sighed. "Forget it…" she stated before picking up the baby and walking back towards the nursery.

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><p>"And then she was just… There…" said Cyros, finishing her explanation to Volteer, Volt doing her comedy act again at their feet, balancing bits of eggshell on her nose in an adorable fashion. Cyros couldn't help laughing at this.<p>

Volteer just stared at the baby in a completely dumbfounded manner. "But… That's… That's just not possible… There's not even a path she could've gone that way to get ahead of you by the time I noticed she was gone…" he stated, blinking in confusion. For once in his life he didn't have anything logical to say about a situation.

Cyros laughed more at this, unable to resist at the sight of smart, motor mouth Volteer left speechless by a baby dragon. "Anyway, is this normal?"

Volteer looked at her like she was crazy. "Normal? I'm fairly certain that defied the laws of physics. I can't even begin to surmise how a newborn hatchling, incapable of flight, could've gotten ahead of you from this particular room, it's just not-"

"No, I meant her following me around like a baby duckling," interrupted Cyros quickly.

Volteer got an embarrassed look on his face and cleared his throat. "Oh yes, that… Well it's not normal, so to speak, but certainly not impossible. You see baby dragons more often than not take time to imprint on those they spend frequent time with. This normally takes place over a number of days or weeks and forms a bond that, if unbroken by outside interference, would go on for a lifetime. But in some cases the newborn instead will imprint on the first thing they see and once imprinted will remain thus attached to the object which they saw as if it were in fact their parents. It's quite uncommon but hardly beyond the realm of possibility," the Electric Guardian explained in his normally rapid speech.

Cyros had to shake her head to get it to stop spinning. "Ok, let me see if I got this. Volt here saw me when she hatched so she thinks I'm her momma?" she asked, still having a headache from Volteer's rapid speech.

Volteer nodded. "That about sums it up… Though I have no idea how she's able to constantly get out of my sight and get into places that don't seem scientifically possible for her to get to in the time allotted. I've never seen anything like it with the except of Delilah, but she's capable of instantaneous intangibility and dimensional transportation. To my knowledge, no dragon is capable of such feats except the Chronicler, and even them I can't be certain."

Cyros nodded… Once more getting a headache. "Alright… I'm going to go lay down…" she said, walking off again to try and get some sleep.

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><p>Cyros groaned, laying down in her bedroom, which already had her guitar and various music books laid out around her. "I've got such a headache… Why can't Volteer just talk like a normal Dragon instead of like Delilah with a giant dictionary of big words?" she asked aloud, slightly annoyed and holding her throbbing head. "… Still, that little scamp did give me a good laugh… Its been a long time sense I've laughed that hard at anything worth laughing at…" she said, giving a small smile. "… Maybe I was too hard on myself… I'll give that simulation another shot tomorrow morning after goodnight's sleep," she muttered, curling up with her eyes closed… Only for her nose to bump against a tiny, scaly form. Cyros gave an annoyed sigh without even opening her eyes. "That's you, isn't it, Volt?" she asked in a tired, somewhat irritated tone. A gleeful little screech answered her and she opened her eyes to see the tiny electric dragoness staring back at her with great big eyes.<p>

Cyros gave an irritated sigh. "I'm too tired to drag you back to the nursery just for you to _somehow_ show up right under my nose…" she muttered. "_Again, _so tell me, are you going to keep doing this until I let you hang out with me?" she asked, getting a cute nod and a cheerful screech from the baby. "Fine, but we're going to go tell Volteer, I don't want motormouth worrying his head off," she stated, getting up and petting the infant's head softly. "I guess it might do me a bit of good to let you hang around, you sure know how to cheer me up, and with everything I've been through, I need all the cheering up I can get."

Volt responded by letting out loud screech of glee that made Cyros cover her ears, or where they'd be if Dragons _had_ external ears. Volt then took to _literally_ jumping for joy around Cyros with a series of cute, little, happy cries of joy that Cyros could swear sounded similar to "yes" being repeated over and over again. Cyros couldn't help laughing at this once her ears stopped ringing. "Alright," said Cyros once she stopped laughing. "You… Can… Stop… jumping… Now… Volt," she said, moving her head up and down, trying to keep the little dragoness in her sight as Volt leapt around her in unrestrained glee. She finally put her paw on Volt's head to hold her down and get her to stop… Only for the infant to start again the moment the paw was off her little head. Cyros chuckled at this but finally held Volt down with her paw again. And lowered her head into her line of sight so she could look her in the eyes. "Alright, you're happy, I get it," she said, chuckling a bit as she did. She then thought about what just happened and smirked. "And I think you just gave me an idea…" she said with a smile, taking her paw off Volt… Then watching the child resume her gleeful jumping and happy cries as if nothing had happened.

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><p>The next morning, after letting Volt stay with her overnight, Cyros stood in the training room, little Volt watching from nearby. She'd gotten Volteer's permission last night, though the old Electric Guardian had once more been left speechless by the newborn's apparent ability to bypass the laws of physics, which Cyros had once more got a good laugh out of.<p>

"Alright, Volt, stay back and watch," advised Cyros, Volt hopping back to the wall instead of just walking. Cyros got in a more light-footed position and summoned the dummies to attack her. This time, she stayed light on her feet, jumping slightly left and right to keep her momentum up as she slashed through several of the dummies and then did a jump sideways, jumping again the moment she landed to get out of the way of a counter attack from several others. She then responded by blasting them with her ice breath and freezing it solid, then shattering it to bits with an ice shard instead of using her ax and leaving herself open. She saw another dummy sneaking up behind her and did a swift side step to avoid the attack, but tripped over herself and found herself once more being overwhelmed by the dummies and forced to end the simulation.

Before she could even _think_ about slipping back into her depressed mindset, little Volt hopped up to her and nuzzled her… Then did a headstand with a silly face to make Cyros laugh. "Thanks, Volt," replied Cyros with a chuckle, petting the baby's head. "I've got this, don't worry…" she said, happy to have the little child there to keep her from slipping into depression again.

Cyros did the simulation again. Unlike the first time, she got significantly better with each attempt, and with Volt running over to cheer her up whenever she failed helping a great deal. Finally, she pinned the last one to the ground with a forwards leap and spat an ice shard through it's head.

Cyros panted, looking around her at the destroyed dummies. "I… I did it…" she said, amazed that she actually had succeeded… Then saw Volt burst into ecstatic cheers and clapping… At least she _thought_ it was cheering, it was kind of hard to tell with a newborn dragoness who hadn't learned to talk yet.

"No… We did it…" said Cyros with a small smile, watching the baby dragon which had inspired this strategy cheer her success… It felt pretty good…

* * *

><p>Well Cyros has made a new friend whose doing her a bit of good. And to fully understand Cyros' depression, remember, these are dragons. To us, walking everywhere is normal, to a dragon, you fly a lot of the time, so it's a major blow to lose it. Also, those who have read "A New Dawn" will probably remember how Cyros couldn't STAND losing, so naturally it'd be a major blow to her to be beaten 18 times in a row during that simulation. And just to point out, Cyros is telling the truth, my goal was to make her getting therapy a GOOD sign of her recovering. There's also a bit that won't appear until later that will further explain it.<p>

I know, I didn't even mention the Raiders, but this was just mainly to set up Volt, who will play a major role, the REAL villains don't enter until later. Also, even though it wasn't mentioned, Cyros' tattoo that gave her fire power was pretty much burnt off by the attack she took at Deadlock's hands, just explaining that part.

Yes, Volt rendered Volteer speechless. I'll leave it up to you guys how she manages to do that, I have no intention of actually explaining it, it's funnier if she just does that and no one knows how. Can anyone guess what character shes' inspired by from another fandom? Anyway, see you next time!


	2. Loki's Challenge

Hey everybody! Time for the next chapter! One thing to get out of the way, this story will show a bit of the group having down time along with the serious stuff. In the original story, and the games, it was mostly just them doing the hero thing with not too much free time. This story takes place during their down time. Cyros is the main focus, of course, but she's still friends with everyone else, and having some downtime with them is a part of her recovery. Just making it clear, this is kind of a "Lighter and Softer" story.

Anyway, continuing on. Today, we'll meet pretty much the main antagonist of part one of the story until the Raiders come in, and see the game having some fun and Cyros continuing her physical recovery. Also, a bit of a Halloween episode, sorta. Halloween is mentioned anyway. Enjoy! And happy Halloween!

* * *

><p><strong>Loki's Challenge<strong>

Cyros slowly walked up the stairs to a tower in the dragon temple, far away from anything else. She'd made Volt _promise_ not to follow her up here, the little dragoness always did things if she'd promised to… Well, at least Cyros _thought_ she'd promised, it was kind of hard to tell with a now month old infant who couldn't speak. Still, Volt always listened if Cyros told her to promise. Not that she didn't want the little dragoness to accompany her, no, she'd _love_ to have that little ball of energy up here to keep her in good spirits. The reason was Volt _couldn't_ come, it was against the law.

Cyros walked up to two armored dragons standing guard in front of a large door. After looking her over they stepped aside and let her shoot the door with an ice shard to open it. On the other side were two more guards. Beyond them was the one Cyros had come to see. The three headed dragoness set, staring out the window, her middle head that of an ice dragon, the left head an electric dragon, and the right head a fire dragon, the body section behind them matching with a set of matching spikes running down each neck and side by side down the back. Her wings were black, having red membranes, and her tail ended in a trio of spikes, one red, one yellow, and one icy blue.

"Mom?" asked Cyros, giving the best smile she could. She hated seeing her mother locked up in this tower, but truth be told, she knew Deadlock had _requested_ to be imprisoned like this. Deadlock knew she was still mentally unstable and until she could trust herself, she didn't want to risk endangering anyone else if she were to have a relapse into her insanity. Not that the prison _could _hold her if she didn't want it too. Not only was she the queen of the Naga, who would've instantly stormed the temple to free her if she hadn't come of her own accord, she was one of the most powerful dragons alive at present. It'd taken Spyro and Cynder fighting together to defeat her and even then it'd been a hard-fought battle.

Deadlock turned, a smile crossing all three of her faces as she looked at her daughter. "Cyros, what a surprise!" said the ice head in a mildly surprised, but happy tone.

"We weren't expecting you today, sweetheart," said the electric head in a perpetually cheerful tone, all three nuzzling their child.

"If you'd given us warning we'd have prepared better," said the fire head, as happy as she knew how. That head had always had an angry disposition, so showing happiness was a bit strange for her to do.

Cyros nuzzled her mother's three heads, letting herself smile at her mother's touch. However, she couldn't help noticing Deadlock's eyes struggling to avoid looking into her own eyes, her happiness seeming a little more forced than it should've been. Cyros struggled to keep as calm as she could for her mother's sake… And did her best to avoid looking in her eyes, at those guilt ridden eyes her mother always had…

"How are you doing today, Cyros?" asked the central head, looking saddened for a moment as her eyes caught sight of Cyros' back.

"I'm doing better, actually, mom," responded Cyros, forcing a smile. "I've got a bit to explain, actually. Has Pyrus visited you recently?"

Deadlock nodded, giving a smile. "Yes, he visited yesterday," answered the electric head with a wide smile.

"He told us he and Ember are finally dating," explained the fire head, giving a snort of displeasure, only to look like a scolded dog a few seconds later.

Cyros nodded, knowing what must've happened. Deadlock's heads communicated telepathically, so Cyros guessed the other two must've mentally scolded the fire head. Sometimes having a three-headed mother was strange… "Yeah, they seem really happy together," she stated, knowing the fire head was only mad because Pyrus was her baby and she was protective. "I'm happy for them."

The ice and electric heads nodded, then glared at the fire head until she did too. "Yes, so are we," said the ice head with a smile. "Our son finding his true love is an exciting… If not a little frightening thing."

Cyros nodded in response. "Yeah, it is…" she responded, remembering all the torment she'd put Pyrus through before realizing the error of her ways. She hid her guilt, not wanting to hurt her mother by being upset in her presence. "I haven't got a boyfriend or anything, but I do have something to tell you about," she continued, giving a smile at the thought of little Volt's antics. "I haven't formally adopted yet, and I doubt I will, but this little orphan electric dragoness named Volt has taken a liking to me," she explained. "I was there when she hatched and she imprinted on me. She wouldn't leave me alone, so I volunteered to look after her. I actually like it, she helps me a lot."

Deadlock looked overjoyed at this. "My, that sounds wonderful," said the ice head, Deadlock once more nuzzling her child with all three heads. "What's she like?"

"Cheery," replied Cyros with a chuckle. "Whenever I get down about… Well, the things I keep getting down about, she does everything she can to cheer me up," she explained, smiling again at the thought of that cheerful little infant. "She's a real joy…"

"That's wonderful, sweetheart," said the electric head with a wide smile. "A little happiness and good cheer does wonders."

Cyros nodded with a smile. "I know, I don't know what I'd do without her now," she replied. "But that's one of the reasons I came to see you, actually," she stated, looking up at Deadlock. "I have no idea how to care for a baby and I wanted to know if you could give me advice."

Deadlock's heads smiled warmly. "Certainly, Cyros… What do you want to know?" asked the electric head.

"Anything that might help."

"Alright, then let's get started, shall we?" said Deadlock's ice head as she began to tell Cyros all she could.

* * *

><p>Cyros started out of Deadlock's room about an hour later. "Thanks for everything mom…" she said, looking over her shoulder but avoiding eye contact. Every time she looked into her mother's eyes and saw all that hurt and guilt… It was like having a knife driven through her heart.<p>

Deadlock nodded her three heads. "Anytime, Cyros," replied the ice heads. "Take care, we love you."

Cyros nodded. "I love you too…" she replied. She then opened her mouth to try and say the three words she _always_ tried to say when she came to see her mother… But they once more got caught in her throat and refused to come out. "… Bye mom…" she finally said, walking through the door.

The moment it shut, Cyros face fell. She quickly got out of the guards sight and began to sob, tears racing down her face, letting out everything that had built up over the hour she'd been with her mother. She set down and held her head in her paws, just letting herself cry…

* * *

><p>Spyro and Cynder stood in the nursery, watching not only Volt but their own young daughter, Nova. Nova was a Black Dragon like Cynder and shared the basic body shape, but had blue in place of red her neck wasn't very long yet. She had blue markings on her hips and back, which weren't identifiable yet due to her young age. Her horns where white, but she had two on her head, a second set at her jaw, though both sets were just little nubs, as with the ones down her back. Her face was slender and streamlined like Cynder's but had an overall more smooth appearance, having turquoise eyes. Of course any similarities between the two Black Dragons was entirely due to being the same race, since Nova was adopted.<p>

Nova stayed close to her mother and father, perfectly content to just relax with them… Only for Volt to jump around beside her with playful squeaks, begging her to play. Nova gave an annoyed sigh and tried to ignore her, only to be nudged by Volt repeatedly, the electric Dragoness really wanting to play. Nova rolled her eyes and finally pounced on Volt, the two rolling on the ground and play fighting.

Cynder chuckled, watching the baby dragons play. "They're so cute…" she said, watching the two babies having fun. Despite Nova's reluctance to start playing, she was having just as much fun as Volt.

Spyro nodded, smiling down at the little ones. "Yeah, they are. I'm just glad Nova made a friend right away. Me and Sparx met when I was born and have been close ever sense," he said, hoping Volt and Nova would be lifelong friends.

"Yeah, and I beat you all the time at hide and seek," replied Sparx, the little dragonfly giving a laugh.

"Well you're tiny, I was too big to hide!" replied Spyro defensively.

Cyros opened the door and walked in. At this, Volt stopped playing and screeched something to Nova in baby talk. Before Nova could reply, Volt took off like a little rocket, causing Nova to be spun around repeatedly from how fast she was going. Once she stopped spinning, Nova staggered around dizzily until Cynder put her paw to catch her.

Cyros chuckled, watching Volt run up to her. "Hey there, Volt," she said, petting the baby on the head. "Were you good for Spyro and Cynder?" she asked, getting a quick nod from the child. "Good girl," she said with a warm smile, walking over to the other two. "Hey guys, how are you doing?"

Cynder smiled. "We're doing fine," she said, leaning down and nuzzling her baby as Nova regained her wits.

"I'm starting to get my ice powers back now, already got back my fire," added Spyro, smiling down at his daughter before looking to Cyros. "You?"

"Starting to get my fighting skills back," said Cyros, giving a small smile. She looked down at Volt, putting a paw on her back. "Volt helped me figure out what I was missing."

Cynder smiled, looking at the little, constantly cheerful baby dragon, who was now hopping around excitedly. "That's great, I'm glad you found someone to help you out."

Cyros looked down at Volt, who gave a happy squeal, making her smile. "I am too…"

Suddenly, Delilah came rushing in, wearing a black robe, witches hat, and carrying a broomstick in her tails. "Happy Halloween everyone!" she called, getting stares of confusion.

"Uh… Halloween?" asked Spyro, blinking in confusion.

Delilah blinked, then got a disappointed look. "Aww! Please tell me you have that in this universe? It's my favorite holiday!"

"Sorry, no we don't," replied Cynder, still getting used to having a dimensional traveling friend. "What's it like? Maybe we have something like it."

"Oh, you dress up in all kinds of spooky costumes and go from door to door, say "trick or treat!" to get treats, like candy and stuff!" said Delilah, smiling from ear to ear. "And there's all kinds of good-natured scares, the fun kind that gives you a little jolt you can laugh at afterwards! And most dimensions keep it child friendly… Actually it's mostly for kids, but I still go trick or treating in at least one dimension every year!"

Cynder blinked. "But you're 200 years old, aren't you a bit old for that?"

Delilah gasped. "Too old for _free candy? _NEVER!" she replied, completely serious.

"Ok then… Well sorry we don't have anything like that here," said Spyro, sorry to disappoint her.

"I actually am," said Sparx, flying over. "You had me at free treats!"

"Oh don't worry, there's tons of other universes," said Delilah, waving one of her tails and opening a small portal to peek through. "Yay! They're having it in my favorite universe… Or at least their world's version of it!" she exclaimed, raising all her tails and causing the portal to open up to it's full size. "Hey, you guys want to come? It'll be so fun!"

Cynder blinked, giving an apprehensive look at the swirling portal. "I don't know, it could be dangerous…"

"It's the same universe you already accepted an invite to a party in, it's safe, promise!" replied Delilah. "Come on, I'm sure Nova and Volt would really love it! Right guys!" she said, looking to the children, who nodded excitably before looking up to the adults with pleading eyes.

"But we don't have costumes and from the sound of things we're out of time," replied Spyro, still confused and a little apprehensive.

"One of my friends is a fashion designer, she can whip some up in a jiffy!" replied Delilah, giving puppy dog eyes. "Come on, please!"

Cynder looked at the little ones, who were likewise giving her, Spyro, and Cyros puppy dog eyes. She finally gave a defeated sigh. "Alright, we'll go, but the kids stay with us at all times."

Delilah jumped about three feet in the air with excitement. "Yay! Alright, let's go! Time is candy!"

"Can you guys take Volt?" asked Cyros, petting Volt on the head. "I've got some important stuff to do, but I think she'd have fun. Mom told me to let her have fun whenever I can. A child's life is supposed to be fun."

Cynder looked to Cyros. "Of course Cyros," she replied, looking down to Volt. She knew Cyros had a lot of things to work through, and she didn't mind watching Volt, her and Nova got along great.

Cyros looked to Volt. "Alright, Volt, promise me that you'll stay with Cynder and Spyro and not get into any trouble," she said, getting a quick nod from the baby. "And promise not to wander off, got it?" she asked, getting another nod and a nuzzle from Volt. "Alright, have fun," she said, smiling and nuzzling the baby back.

"Alright, let's go! Hurry!" said Delilah, practically pushing the group through the portal in her rush, the portal closing behind them.

Cyros gave a sigh. "Of all the beings in existence, my brother makes friends with a dimension jumping fox," she said, giving a sigh and smile before walking off.

* * *

><p>Cyros walked into the training room and concentrated, the statue of Ignitus sinking into the ground and a series of magic, blue glowing rings appearing along the walls at different locations all the way up to the top of the room along with a few pillars to make it more difficult, the ground along the outer edge lowering into water, so if one for whatever reason where unable to continue, they wouldn't take a fatal fall doing so, though there were other options for Fire Dragons, who by their nature couldn't swim. She was thankful that, even though this was a flying simulation, it was still perfect for her own needs and had that precaution.<p>

Cyros looked down at her claws. "Alright, let's try this…" she said, breathing ice onto her claws, forming spiked ice claws on all four feet. Delilah had suggested it to her, having apparently seen such things in other universes. Given her situation, it seemed worthwhile to try it. Anything to make up for her inability to fly. She took a stance and ran forwards, driving her claws into the wall and getting a secure grip before climbing as fast as she could through the course along the wall, driving her icy claws into the stone and scaling the wall that way. However, she didn't even make it to the first ring before she lost her grip and fell into the water. Spitting out water as she came to the surface, she gave a low growl and swam to solid ground.

After unfastening the metal blade on her tail, realizing it'd made it difficult to swim and if she got tired climbing, that would be a bad idea, Cyros took another go at it. This time, she rather quickly climbed her way up to the first ring and managed to jump through it, causing it to glimmer and disappear. Reattaching to the wall, Cyros kept up her pace and continued, but before making it to the next ring, lost her grip and fell back into the pool with a big splash.

Climbing ashore and shaking herself dry, Cyros looked back to the wall. "Well, made it further that time," she said, then looked to the metal blades she'd left laying on the ground nearby. "Must be from losing the weight…" she stated, then looked to her cloak and sniffed it, giving a gag and a disgusted look. "Yuck! Maybe wearing a fur cloak when I might end up in water wasn't such a good idea, I smell like a wet dog…" she muttered, but didn't take it off. She looked around the room slowly. "Well… Most of the others are in another dimension celebrating Halloween…" she said to herself, slowly sliding off her cloak and setting it aside.

Cyros looked over her shoulder at her back, which was still covered in scars. Her eyes fell on the two stumps that were once her wings and a twinge of sorrow ran through her mind. She quickly shook head to clear that thought and turned back to the task at hand.

* * *

><p>Cyros fell once more, this time having made it through about three hoops this time before falling. She climbed out of the water, her legs burning from the work she'd made them do. "I think that's good for the day," she panted, looking up at the wall. "I'm getting better, that's for sure…" she said, pleased with her progress. She felt a ping of sorrow, noticing Volt wasn't with her. She hopped the little dragoness was having fun with the others, but she missed Volt being there to cheer her on all the time.<p>

Cyros looked around for her cloak and blades, but found they weren't where she'd left them. "What? I left them right there…"

"Looking for these?" asked a rather refined voice from behind her.

Cyros turned to see an adult Ice Dragon standing with her cloak and blades in her claws. He was young (for a dragon), probably about three Years of the Dragon older than her, and had dark blue skin and a purplish blue underbelly and wing membranes. His horns curved straight back off the sides of his head and where a deep blue color, a row of webbed spines running the length of his back to a trident-like tail tip. "Loki…" snarled the young Ice Dragoness, glaring daggers at the older dragon.

* * *

><p><em>Hey, it's Cyros again. Delilah asked me to write a little bit explaining who Loki is, said there needed to be a little context. Loki can be described in one word… Well, one word Delilah will actually let me write here; bully. The guy is a big dragon who has enough true talent to think he can belittle anyone he comes across. Let's just say I got a LOT of bullying from this guy. Since I didn't have wings, he saw me as an easy target, always called me the "Wingless Wonder". Yeah, the guy is that much of a jack- Oh, wait, Delilah said I couldn't write that… He's a big enough jerk to pick on a dragoness half his age who lost her wings, alright? And you know that little "I'm useless" thing I went through the last chapter? Guess who caused it?… Didn't surprise me any when I found out when my mom was a nursery dragon, Loki was one of those mouthy little kids who routinely made fun of her for having three heads… And got his tail warmed for it almost daily. Maybe that's why he's got it out for me… Anyway, back to the story.<em>

* * *

><p>"Why if it isn't the little Wingless Wonder," said Loki, in a mocking, intentionally annoying voice.<p>

Cyros did her best to hide her wing stumps from sight. "Give me back my things, Loki!" she demanded, snarling.

Loki chuckled. "These?" he asked, holding up her cloak and metal blades before throwing them into the water. "Oops, sorry," he said in a sarcastic tone of voice with a sick smirk. "Why are you even trying? A wingless dragon is a useless dragon. You'll never be anything more than that. I don't know why the Guardians are still considering a worthless freak like you for the position of Ice Guardian. It makes no sense when real dragons like me are more than happy to take it. You should just go back you hang with the snakes."

Cyros snarled, glaring a hole through Loki. "That's not going to work anymore, you rotten bully!" she growled. "I'm not worthless, and I'm going to prove it!" she yelled, fury clear in her eyes.

Loki chuckled, walking over and towering about the much younger dragoness. "And just how are you going to do that?" he asked in an amused tone, trying to get her to back down.

"I'll finish this course, _without_ flying," said Cyros, not backing down an inch.

Loki chuckled, looking up at the test course. "Fine, let's see it then."

Cyros took a step back, having not expected him to demand her do it now. "I'm still practicing… I'll be ready in a month, alright?" she asked, regaining her composure.

Loki chuckled, smirking down at her. "Fine then, we'll go with that. In a month, we'll see if a wingless freak like you can do it," he replied, then gave a snicker. "But even if you do, if you can't do it as well as a flying dragon, it just proves my point."

Cyros snarled. "I'll do it better than you can," she said, not thinking. When she got to thinking, she realized how stupid a thing that was to say. _Better than him? In a month? You idiot! _she thought, mentally hitting herself.

Loki burst out laughing so hard he almost fell on his back and rolled on the ground. "You? Beat me?" he laughed, as if it was the single most hilarious thing he'd ever heard. "Fine! Lets see it! A month from now, we'll do this course and see if you can do it faster. Deal, Wingless Wonder?"

Cyros' temper got the best of her and she snarled with rage. "Fine! I'll make you eat your words!" she yelled, glaring back at him. _I can't believe I just said that! Even if I HAD wings he'd be hard to beat!_ _Just stick your foot in your mouth and stop talking!_

Loki chuckled, getting in her face. "You're on," he stated, taking a paw and pushing her hard. Cyros cried out in agony as the back of her smacked off the rocky ground, holding her throbbing head with pain induced tears in her eyes as Loki laughed. "See you in a month, Wingless Wonder!" he laughed, leaving the room.

Cyros snarled, clutching her throbbing head with one paw and slamming the other on the ground in rage.

* * *

><p>A good bit later, Cyros was sitting in her dripping wet cloak, holding a piece of ice she'd made herself to the back of her aching head. "Cyros?" asked Cynder's voice.<p>

The ice dragoness turned around to see Cynder standing, painted midnight black with a long, fake black unicorn horn affixed to her head along with a dark blue, plastic helmet, complete with little black horse ears. She had a dark blue necklace with a crescent moon on it, one also being painted on her flank surrounded by dark purple. She also had dark blue armor on her legs, wearing boots that made her legs look like those of horses. Black, feathered wing coverings over her normal wings and a long trail of light blue fabric with stars in it on a wire frame from the back of her head and over her tail completed the look of a sinister winged unicorn of some sort.

Cyros blinked. "Nice costume…" she stated, looking her over in a bit of amazement. Everything, even the paint, which wasn't sloppy in the slightest, was masterfully done.

"Yeah, apparently this is the big monster their version of Halloween centers around," explained Cynder, taking off the boots, as they were starting to hurt her front paws a little. "Like their version of Desputier," she continued, Desputier being a skeletal dragon from old ghost stories that was used to scare little hatchlings to stay inside at night. "Anyway, a unicorn made us all costumes since Delilah is her friend. It wasn't that hard for her, since pegasi and dragons both have four legs, a tail, and wings. She just had to modify things a little bit and get to work."

Cyros nodded, not finding the costume all _that_ scary, but then again, she wasn't from that universe. She looked to see even Cynder's eyelids had purple makeup on them with fake, evil looking eyelashes. "She went the distance, didn't she?"

Cynder nodded with a chuckle. "Yeah, she did on everyone, wouldn't settle for anything but her absolute best work. And believe it or not, she just gave them to us as a favor to Delilah. I tried telling her we could just gone as ourselves, but she absolutely refused and made them for all of us, makeup included… Then she fainted dramatically on the couch from working her tail off all day on costumes for not just us but lots of people from her own world."

Cyros nodded, giving a chuckle. "I see. So how did it go?"

"Pretty good, actually," said Cynder, massaging her tired paws. "I haven't had that much fun in a long time, and the kids loved it. Though the ruler of the night kind of lost it halfway through and nearly canceled the whole thing. Apparently she _used_ to be the one the holiday is about and is a bit unhappy about being treated like a monster… I can relate with that. I got to talk to her once she calmed down and the celebrations started again; turns out we've got a lot in common actually," she said, smiling lightly, before frowning when she looked back at Cyros' head and soaked cloak. "Cyros, what happened to you?"

Cyros groaned. "Worked _my_ tail off all day, that's what," she said, giving a tired smile, then cringing at the ache in her head. "Don't worry, I'm fine…" she replied, trying not to worry Cynder by telling her she'd gotten hurt by Loki.

Cynder moved Cyros' paw and the ice to show a knot from where Loki had made her hit her head. "That's a nasty bump, Cyros," she said, a mother-like concern in her tone.

"Just… Hit my head when I fell during training, nothing major," said Cyros, averting her eyes so not to look into Cynder's.

Cynder saw this and gave a serious look. "Cyros," she said in a stern tone. "What happened?"

Cyros sighed, she looked at Cynder and could tell she wouldn't have anything but the truth. Couldn't blame her, she was worried about herself. "That rotten bully Loki did it."

Cynder gasped in shock. "By the Ancestors! He hit you?" she asked, eyes wide in disbelief. Even if female dragons were just as tough as males, hitting a young dragoness half your age who'd lost her wings was a horrible thing to do.

"No, he just pushed me and I hit my head," replied Cyros, putting the ice back on her head. "Then laughed his head off over it. I'm sick and tired of that bully…"

Cynder snarled. "Well I'm going to go give him a piece of my mind," she growled, getting up to go kick Loki's tail.

"No, Cynder," said Cyros, holding Cynder back.

"But Cyros, he-"

"I know what he did," interrupted Cyros, a serious tone as she looked into her eyes. "And I know you could beat the tar out of him without breaking a sweat, I don't doubt that at all."

Cynder looked Cyros in the eyes. "Then let me go so I can! I'm not going to stand by and let him bully you like this! We both know it's wrong!"

"Yeah, but there's two reasons I'm not letting you beat him up right now, and trust me, I _really_ want to see that jerk get his due," said Cyros, looking back with a serious look. "First, you're still dressed up as a winged unicorn."

Cynder looked herself over. "Point taken…" she replied, admitting this wasn't the best outfit to beat up a bully in.

"And second, I know bullies," said Cyros, looking down at her paws with guilt in her eyes. "I used to be one… He's not going to back off if just I get you to whip his tail, he'll just bully me worse. I've got to show him whose boss myself or he'll never leave me alone no matter how thoroughly _you _kick his butt."

Cynder sighed, knowing Cyros was right. "Alright… But if he hurts you again, I'm going to beat the holy hell out of him, that's a promise."

Cyros smiled in return. "I know… In a month, I've got to beat him in a competition, I do that, it should shut his mouth good."

Cynder nodded, giving a smile. "Alright… Kick his tail, ok?"

Cyros smirked. "You bet…" she said, trying to hide the fact she wasn't sure she really could. She then looked down, seeing what looked like a tiny striped skunk sitting in front of her. She blinked, before the "skunk" pulled a mask off to reveal little Volt's face with a big grin. Cyros chuckled, nuzzling the little dragoness. Like Cynder's outfit, it was wonderfully done. "Hey there, you little stinker," she said, smirking. "Did you have a good time?" she asked, getting an excited nod and big smile from Volt.

"They both did, I'm glad Delilah invited us. I wonder if the Guardians would us have something like that here," said Cynder, having had a good time herself. She was still worried about Cyros, but didn't want to push her too much, especially after everyone had had such a wonderful time

"Cynder?" called Spyro's voice.

"In here!" called Cynder, smiling before turning back. "Wait till you see Sparx. He pushed his luck a little too far with his wisecracks while waiting for his turn to get a costume," she said with a laugh, clearly enjoying whatever it was that had happened.

Cyros blinked, turning to the door as Spyro and Nova entered. Nova was in a pretty little white gown, with angel wing covers over her wings and a little wire frame on her head holding up a golden halo. Spyro was carrying a sack full of candy. He was dressed a king, with a jewel covered crown on his head and red and white robe draped over his back with a large purple jewel in the part connecting it. Then Cyros saw Sparx and could hardly contain laughter. The little dragonfly was dressed in a the most girly pink, frilly dress she'd ever seen with a little tiara practically glued to his head, looking more than a little embarrassed.

"Gee Sparx, I didn't think you were a princess type," said Cyros, barely containing her laughter. She wanted to know the story behind this

"I'm not! That crazy unicorn couldn't take a joke and stuck me in this thing!" yelled Sparx, a bit upset.

"You told her you thought her dresses were tacky and kept bugging her every time she tried to do _anything_," reminded Spyro, setting down the bag of candy with a smirk. "She warned you five times that she'd do something "very unlady-like" if you didn't stop it. Don't you think you were pushing it?"

Cyros couldn't contain her laughter any further and started laughing so hard she fell on her back. Cynder chuckled. "You have to admit, you were asking for it," she added, giving a smirk. "And you can't say you didn't have fun _besides_ that."

Sparx tried to act upset, but smiled lightly. "Yeah, it was kind of fun… Except for the fact I spent the whole thing in a dress."

Cyros finally stopped laughing and set up in time to see Delilah joined them and started digging into treats with Nova and Volt. "Hey, maybe I should get her to do that to Loki," she whispered to Cynder with a laugh, imagining that bully of a dragon in a princess get up, getting Cynder to laugh.

Cyros laughed again as moments later, the already hyperactive Volt went zipping around the room on a sugar rush. Sure, Loki had given her a bad day, but it felt so good to have it end on such a good note.

* * *

><p>Yes, I'm aware there are a number of ways I could include Halloween in this fic without involving other dimensions, but The Legend Of Spyro verse didn't seem like one where Halloween would exist, and if it did, I can't imagine the costumes. On top of that, why have a dimensional traveller as part of the cast if the group can't have some fun with it? And I thought Cynder and Luna would get along, thus the universe I chose. That and it actually DOES serve a purpose other than just be a fun diversion, trust me.<p>

As for Loki, he's pretty much that nasty schoolyard bully who we've all probably encountered at one time or another, grown up in body but not leaving his bullying ways behind. That's the kind of villain I wanted for this part of the story, dealing with Cyros' early recovery.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! See you later!


	3. No Pain, No Gain

Hello everyone, seriously, sorry for taking so dang long to finally update this one! I got writers block, then wrote a MLP fanfic and...so yeah, I got distracted, anyway, back! and hopefully this time for good.

Hope it's worth the wait!

* * *

><p><strong>No Pain, No Gain<strong>

"Ok, Volt, that's enough!" said Cyros, about two days after the others had paid a visit to that pony world. Volt was still hyper, either from excitement or the remnant of a sugar rush (or both), and presently rushing about their bedroom like a little bolt of lightning, ignoring the fact Cyros was tired from yet another day of training and needed sleep. Either that or she was just too hyper to pay attention.

"Volt! I'm serious! Stop it!" the ice dragoness called, watching Volt dash around her so fast she could barely keep her in sight. She let out an agitated growl. "Note to self; next Halloween or whatever, make sure to watch the hyperactive baby dragon's sugar intake!" she exclaimed, before trying and failing to catch little Volt repeatedly. She finally gave a sigh of annoyance. "Alright, let's see, what did mom say to do if a baby didn't want to go to sleep?" she asked, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Oh yeah, a lullaby!" she said, hurrying to her guitar and getting ready to play, but then realized something. "Darn it, I don't know any lullabies!" she stated, agitated as she tried to think of one.

As Cyros struggled to think of a lullaby to sooth little Volt to sleep, Delilah poked her head in, sideways, and looked around, seeing the situation at hand. The Kitsune hurried to Cyros' side. "Need a little help?"

Cyros would normally be annoyed Delilah had entered her room without permission, but given the situation, nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm trying to get Volt to calm down and go to bed, but I don't know a lullaby! I've never had to have one before!"

Delilah gave a confused blink. "So make one up."

"Make one… Make one up? How?" asked Cyros, surprise clear in her voice. "I've wrote tons of songs, but I don't have the time to just sit down and write one right now!"

Delilah cocked her head with a confused look, then face pawed when she realized something. "Sorry, forgot what universe I was in for a sec," she replied, a thoughtful look on her face. "Alright, play something soothing, let me handle the rest, okay?"

Cyros blinked, confusion clear in her face. "Alright, but I don't know any-"

"Anything! Just make sure it sounds relaxing, that's all I need," said Delilah, giving a reassuring glance and clearing her throat.

Cyros was still confused, but nodded. "Alright, I'll do my best…" she said, not sure where Delilah was going with this. She started playing a slow, soothing rhythm.

Delilah took a moment to get the beat, then raised her tails, letting five little blue fireballs float off and circle around slowly, getting Volt's attention. Delilah then began singing.

"_Little one, lay down your head_

_Quiet now, it's time for bed_

_Nighttime through the windows peeks_

_So you need to get some sleep_

_Tomorrow there will be time to play_

_But you can't if you're tired all day!"_ sung Delilah, in a soft, relaxing tone of voice as the little fireballs floated like a little mobile above a baby's crib. Volt's eyes started to droop as she watched them and listened.

"_Little one, lay down your head_

_Quiet now, it's time for bed_

_There's no reason to worry_

_I'm sure dawn will be here in a hurry._

_Then there will be time to play_

_Now come along, bed is this way,"_ she sung, leading the baby dragoness to Cyros' side and laying her down, letting the flames continue to orbit around above her to sooth her further. Volt yawned widely, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"_Little one, lay down your head_

_Quiet now, it's time for bed_

_Night is here, that much is true_

_But dreamland is waiting for you_

_There you can play the night away_

_Until the start of the next day…_

_Little one, lay down your head_

_Quiet now, it's time for bed…_

_Go to dreamland, have fun the night through_

_And in the morning, we'll be waiting for you…"_ the Kitsune sung, drawing out the last line a bit as Volt curled up and fell asleep with a yawn.

Cyros stopped when Delilah's singing ceased and just stared at her wide-eyed. She'd had no idea Delilah could even sing, let alone that well. "Where did you-" she started, before Delilah shushed her and pointed to the sleeping baby, making Cyros realize she was being too loud. "Oh, sorry," she whispered. "Where did you learn that song?" she whispered, curious.

Delilah smirked. "I made it up, right now," she whispered, grinning ear to ear.

Cyros' jaw dropped. "You just made it up?!" she exclaimed in a hushed whisper. "H-how?!"

Delilah looked down at the sleeping baby, smiling at how cute Volt was, before looking to Cyros. "I'm a dimensional traveler, some of the worlds I visit allow their inhabitants to spontaneously burst into song at a moment's notice," she explained, keeping her voice at a whisper, but still in her typical rapid form of speech. "Visiting them kind of caused it to rub off on me."

Cyros blinked in confusion. "Alright; so you can spontaneously sing songs you make up on the spot with no practice at all?"

Delilah nodded. "Yep, that's about it, though normally the background music just pops up with no in-universe explanation, I thought I'd have you play, since you're good at music and Volt's caretaker… Come to think of it, didn't you make up songs on the spot when you were evil?"

Cyros thought back and shook her head. "No, most of those were prewritten, but with a little improvising. The only one I think was on the spot was the one I sand while I was fighting Pyrus and Ember, and I can't even remember that too well…" she said, a bit of guilt in her face as she remembered the time she had spent as a "villain". "I was kind of mad with power…"

Delilah looked guilty herself. "Oh… I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have brought that up," she replied, mentally kicking herself for bringing up the subject.

Cyros shook her head. "No… It's alright, don't worry," she replied, not wanting Delilah to feel guilty. "So does that happen to everybody that goes to dimensions like that?"

Delilah shrugged. "Don't know, I might not be the only dimensional traveler, but I haven't talked that part out with others yet," she answered. "But probably. We'll see if you guys all become able to once we've visited some other worlds enough. I wonder what happens if I bring a person from those world's here though… Oh, and the pony world is one, so we'll see."

Cyros gave it some thought. "That'd actually be kind of cool. We'll have to test that theory… So why are you here? Not that I don't appreciate the help."

"Oh, I was just stopping by to check on you," replied Delilah, giving a smile. "You're my friend after all, do I need a reason to check in?"

Cyros smiled shyly, still not used to having people help her because they _wanted _to. "Thanks Delilah, you really did help me out, I appreciate it."

"Anything for a friend," replied Delilah, giving Cyros a friendly nuzzle. "Now if you excuse me, I have another friend to go help," she said, getting up and heading out.

"What about?" asked Cyros in an inquisitive tone.

"Something about helping a ghost she befriended," said Delilah, shrugging. "It's a friend of mine's little sis. She's such a cute little filly, but she gets in messes a _lot_ with her two friends. Anyway, I've got to go help her out."

"Alright, have fun," replied Cyros, watching Delilah open a portal. "Wait… What?" she asked as what Delilah said hit her.

"I'm a spirit, so they asked me to help another spirit in need," replied Delilah, as if that was obvious. "Who else would you get to help a ghost?"

Cyros just blinked in confusion. "I get that part, but why do you need to help a filly with-" she started, right as Delilah went through the portal, closing it behind her. "A ghost…" she finished with a sigh. "Why am I surprised? It's Delilah we're talking about…" she muttered, then looked down and smiled at Volt. The little dragoness was curled up, suckling on her tail like a baby sucking on it's thumb.

Cyros chuckled lightly and curled up around Volt. "I guess you're pretty cute when you're asleep…" she said, looking at the sleeping baby. "Goodnight," she whispered, giving the baby a soft nuzzle… And getting a little kiss on the nose in response. Cyros smiled wide and let herself fall to sleep.

* * *

><p>Cyros grunted, pulling herself up along the wall with her icy talons. She finally jumped though the last ring and let herself fall into the water below. She quickly climbed up onshore, Volt waiting for her with a congratulatory cheer while jumping around excited. It'd been two days, she was training hard and had finally managed to make it through the course, but it took her a LOT longer than she would've liked. A lot longer than a flying dragon could do.<p>

"Thanks Volt," she said, giving Volt a nuzzle as she climbed out, panting heavily from exertion. "But I've still got a long way to go to beat Loki at this…" she muttered, shaking herself off and breaking off the ice claws so she could pet Volt on the head. "But you're helping me out a lot."

"Hey girls!" called Delilah, trotting into the room. "How you doing?"

"Pretty good, Delilah," said Cyros, smiling to the Kitsune but quickly putting her cloak back on. "Got a lot of training ahead of me, but I'm working on it. How'd your mission go?"

"Eh, not so good, we got chased by zombies," said Delilah, giving a sigh. "We got away just fine though."

Cyros blinked in confusion. "Wait… Zombies?"

Delilah nodded. "Yeah, I'm not entirely sure where they came from myself…" she stated, looking a little confused in her own right. "Anyway, can I help?"

"Not really at the moment, Delilah," said Cyros, looking up at the obstacle course awaiting her. "I just need some training right now, that's the only thing I can think of that might help."

"Maybe Cyril could help, he is the Ice Guardian after all, its kind of his job," Delilah continued, Volt nodding cheerfully along with her.

Cyros sighed. "This is my battle, I want to fight it myself…besides, Cyril has more important things to do than help me end a silly grudge…" she muttered, getting ready to head up the wall, then she heard the door open, turning to see Loki enter. "Loki…"

Loki gave a rather sadistic chuckle. "Hey, Wingless Wonder, thought I'd come and do a little practicing myself, if that's alright with you," he said in a tone an extremely arrogant tone.

"The course is right there, no one's stopping you," Cyros growled.

Loki smirked, stretching his wings. "That's what I thought you'd say," he said, walking past her.

Delilah gave a snarl. "Bully, I hate bullies…"

Cyros nodded, turning back to watch Loki.

The dragon spread his wings and took off, flying into the course with ease and weaving around the obstacles, even doing some stunts just to show off, and still made it to the finish line half the time it'd taken Cyros. Her heart sank as she watched.

Loki flew back down and landed in front of the younger dragoness. "I wonder if you'll manage to even be a challenge, it'd be a shame if it were no contest at all," he said, then gave a laugh and stomped off.

"What a jerk, and trust me, I've seen lots and lots of jerks," Delilah said, looking back to Cyros, who had her head lowered. "Cyros?"

"There's no way I can beat him, who am I kidding?" Cyros asked with a disheartened sigh.

Volt whimpered and cuddled close to her.

"…Cyros, I've seen this kind of thing before…eleven times, actually," Delilah added, scratching her head. "And giving up never solves anything, normally it takes hard work, determination, and a training montage."

Cyros blinked slightly. "Wait…what?"

"You just need to work hard, that's all…Did you ever think of using the pillars as platforms?" asked Deliah, looking over the course. "There's no rule saying you can't touch them."

Cyros slowly looked up at the wall, noticing some of the pillars were in good locations to jump off of or run across. She'd simply been climbing around them all this time. She face palmed. "Ugh, why didn't I think of that?!"

"Because you're looking at this the wrong way, young dragoness," said a refined voice as the door opened.

Cyros turned to see Cyril enter the chamber and bowed quickly. "Master Cyril, it's nice to see you…"

Cyril nodded. "It's good to see you too, Cyros. I heard about your challenge to Loki, are you certain you'll be ready simply practicing alone for a month?"

"No, and to be honest, I doubt I'll be able to," replied Cyros, looking up at the course. "But if I don't show him who's boss, he'll never leave me alone. And don't punish him on my account, I DON'T want to take the easy way out and just have one of my friends beat the tar out of him, even if it'd be satisfying to watch. Besides, even if I did it'd just make him worse."

Cyril gave a sigh, muttering how prideful some dragons could be. "We may not agree on that point, but that does not mean you have to practice on your own."

"I appreciate the offer," said Cyros, heading over to the wall to climb, this time intending to take Delilah's suggestion to heart. "But I don't see how you'd know anything about training a wingless dragoness to climb, no offense."

"I do not have experience in that regard, I will admit," replied Cyril, a wise tone in his voice. "But what I do know of training techniques used by other species, who in their natural state, cannot fly, and yet manage to climb mountains effectively."

"Ok, so maybe THAT would help," replied Cyros, making her ice claws. But she looked back up at the wall, a rather stubborn look on her face. "But…I want to do this alone…no offense, but…"

"But why are you suddenly wanting to help me so bad?"

"Several reasons, young Cyros," said Cyril, looking her over. He looked at the ice claws with an intrigued gaze before continuing. "You are an Ice Dragoness, the only one from 24 years ago to survive. That makes training you my responsibility in the first place, though I'm certain you learned a great many things from your mother when it comes to the fine art of ice… And also, I have seen many dragons lose their wings and simply give up," he explained, a bit of sorrow in his eyes. "War is like that… But not you, you are trying to overcome your loss. For that, I respect you."

Cyros looked over her shoulder at her back, surprised by the statement. He respected her? "… I guess you're right… Alright, Master Cyril, what do you have in mind?"

Cyril smiled, walking over to her. "Well first things first, stop looking at this from an adult dragon's point of view. You're no less a dragon without your wings but you now have instincts that are more harm than good. Delilah is a Kitsune, a fox. The idea of climbing over an obstacle instead of flying over it is something she's more inclined to see than a flying reptile. As a child you likely saw the world the exact same way because you couldn't fly yet, think back to that time and see things that way again."

"Glad I could be of help!" Delilah chimed in.

Cyros blinked, looking up at the course. She imagined when she was a kid, exploring the caves of Serpent's Edge with Pyrus, climbing over rocks and debris. "…I see what you mean…Ok, what next?"

"Next we need to find you some proper training gear…Only problem being I am not certain where I can locate it for a young dragoness in time."

"I might be able to help!" said Delilah, running over excitedly.

"How?" asked Cyril, eyeing the little Kitsune in confusion. No one really knew what to make of her most of the time, but be that as it may, in this situation, he'd take any help he could get.

"A friend of mine is a fashion designer, but she can make almost anything clothing related. She could whip you up anything you need in a jiffy!" said Delilah, excitement in her tone.

"The unicorn who stuffed Sparx in that princess dress?" asked Cyros, cocking her head.

"Unicorn?" asked Cyril, confusion clear on his face.

"Alternate dimensions…" replied Cyros, looking up at Cyril. "Believe me, that's the least weirdest thing she's told me about parallel universes."

"Yeah, her," answered Delilah. "And because you're royalty, I think she'll be even more excited to make something for you!"

"Alright…That settles the where, but now there's another matter," said Cyril, ignoring how improbable it sounded and taking her word for it. After all, he had seen Delilah arrive for Nova's hatching via dimensional portal with his own two eyes. "Cyros, if you accept my training, then I can only promise this, it'll be hard and brutal. I do not pull punches in proper training, and you have no room to take shortcuts if you want to defeat Loki. Will you still accept?"

Cyros nodded without hesitation. "I can take it."

"Very well then," said Cyril, giving a smile. "Delilah, here's what I need made for her…"

* * *

><p>A month later, Spyro, Cynder, and company stood in the training room, Loki stretching his wings, ready to go. Delilah stood next to Volt, who had a basket next to her that Delilah had to tell her repeatedly not to open yet. "So tell me again, why hasn't Cynder kicked that jerk's tail already?" asked Sparx, glaring at the smug, overconfident Loki.<p>

"Because Cyros told me not to," replied Cynder, giving a sigh. "I hope she can do this…"

"Have faith in her, Cynder," said Spyro, giving her a nuzzle. "She's been training with Cyril almost nonstop for a month now, so she should be ready," he replied, having barely even _seen_ the female dragoness in that time.

The door opened and Cyros walked in, Cyril flanking her. She wore an icy blue cloak in place of her old brown one, this one considerably more regal with her mother's seal on the back. It was rather beautiful really, despite being a training garment. Sparx gave a whistle. "Wow, nice duds."

"Thanks, Delilah's unicorn friend Rarity made it for me," explained Cyros. "She almost fainted when I told her I was a princess who wanted her to make me something, that girl is so overly dramatic."

"So you got to go to pony world too?" asked Sparx, trying not to bring up the incident he'd had with her.

"Yeah, weird place," replied Cyros, thinking back to that short venture. "Had to keep telling her I wanted something simple, not some over elaborate thing, but she did good work."

"Ah, there you are, Cyros," said Loki, marching over and looking down at the much smaller dragoness. "Ready to lose?"

"Are you?" Cyros asked in response, giving a low growl towards the bigger dragon.

Terrador stepped forwards, looking over to the two participants. "Today is a simple race. Best two out of three wins. The goal is to beat the other's time. For sake of fairness, due to her…handicap, Cyros goes second. Understood?" he asked, getting nods, though Cyros was visibly upset at hearing the word handicap.

"Alright, then we shall begin. Loki, you're up first."

Loki took the starting line and got ready. "Get ready to lose, runt."

"Go!"

Loki took off, once more making a show of it as he zipped through the course. Weaving through the obstacles, he finally passed the last ring."

"Three minutes eight seconds," said Volteer, watching the display. "Impressive time."

"Thank you," said Loki, landing with an over exaggerated bow. He then looked to Cyros. "Beat that!"

Cyros took the starting line and made her ice claws, taking a pre-run stance. However, she didn't take off her cloak this time.

"Go!"

Cyros took a running start and drove her claws into the wall, climbing across it with a faster pace and greater ease than her practice sessions. Reaching the first pillar, she leapt on to it and started running, using it to leap to the next pillar and through a ring, repeating it twice more before jumping back to the wall. She continued the pattern, running over some pillars and climbing where it was not a valuable tactic.

Finally, she reached the final ring and let herself fall into the water and climb out. "Thank the Ancestors this thing is waterproof," she muttered, shaking herself off, water running right off her improved gear.

Everyone looked to Volter. "Three minutes sixteen seconds…first round goes to Loki."

That got a group sigh from the group. "It's alright," said Cyros. "Still two rounds left," she reassured, seeming strangely confident.

"Round two," said Terrador, Loki taking his place again. "Go!"

Loki, confident in himself, took the _exact_ same route as his previous time, even doing the exact same tricks before crossed the finish line.

"Three minutes, seven seconds," Volteer announced, looking over to Terrador.

"Cyros, your turn," the Earth Guardian announced.

Cyros did a timeout gesture with her paws. "One sec," she said, sitting down and undoing the metal blades on her tail, letting them hit the ground with a surprisingly loud thud, then went to the starting line. "Ok, ready."

Loki blinked, noticing the weight of the blades. "She was wearing those the entire time?" he asked in surprise.

"Yep," said Cyros, smirking. "Weight training, it really helps," she replied, looking forwards to the track.

"Go!"

Cyros took off, leaping onto the wall and lodging her claws into it, climbing with considerably more speed and jumping further than she previously managed now that her tail wasn't weighing her down. She jumped through the last ring and let herself fall into the pool.

"Three minutes, six seconds, Cyros wins the round," Volteer announced, getting cheers for the young dragoness to sound.

Loki gave a snarl, then a slow chuckle. "That all you can do?" he asked with a laugh. "Even without all that weight you're still way too slow to beat me!"

Cyros smirked. "We'll see."

"Final round," said Terrador, looking over to Loki and motioning him to the starting line.

Loki took a pre-flight pose with an arrogant look on his face.

"Go!"

Loki took off, this time limiting the amount of showing off, though even then there was a good bit of it. He did a spin as he passed through the last ring.

"Two minutes, forty seconds," said Volteer, looking over to the group. "Impressive."

Loki landed in front of Cyros. "No way you'll beat that, runt, not unless you've been hiding a new pair of wings this entire time."

Cyros narrowed her eyes. "No, but I'm not going to lose to a jerk like you."

Loki chuckled. "A lot of dragons who can fly can't beat me."

"Then why not put your money where your mouth is?"

Loki blinked. "Are you making a bet with me?"

Cyros nodded. "If you're so sure I can't beat your time, and aren't chicken that is."

Loki gave a snarl. "Oh you're on! What's the bet?!"

Cyros tapped her chin. "Loser has to do the most humiliating thing the winner can think of?"

Loki smirked. "You're on."

Cyros looked to the others. "Everyone heard that, right?" she asked, getting nods. "Alright then," she said, walking over to the starting line.

Loki's smirk was quickly wiped off his face when Cyros took off her cloak and threw it in his face, the force actually knocking him down. Groaning, he noticed something about the cloak, other than the 'Made at Carousel Boutique' logo on the inside. "This…this thing has to weigh at least fifty pounds!"

"Seventy, actually," said Cyros, stretching to show her muscles were considerably more toned. She took her chokers off and threw them over her shoulders. "Those weigh ten, each."

Delilah looked to Cyril. "You really don't pull punches, do you?" she asked, realizing Cyros had been carrying well over a hundred pounds on her.

Cyril chuckled. "No, I do not, but now we'll see if it worked."

Cyros put fresh ice claws on, looking back at her wing stubs and scarred back a little self consciously, but swallowing her pride and taking a pre-run stance.

"Go!"

Cyros took off like a rocket, running and jumping onto the wall and scaling it with ease now that she had little weight holding her down. She sprinted across a platform and did a leap through a ring, jumping instantly off the platform she landed on, losing little momentum in the process as she reached the next. Finally she leapt through the final ring and fell into the water with a splash.

"Two minutes, thirty seconds, Cyros wins!" Volteer announced.

The group all cheered as the dragoness climbed out of the water and back to shore.

"I…I lost?!" asked Loki in complete disbelief.

Volt looked to Delilah, who nodded. The baby gave a happy screech and opened the basket, balloons popping out and pulling it skywards.

Sparx watched with a blink. "What was that for?"

"It was fun," said Delilah smiling and rubbing Volt's head.

Cyros walked over and put her cloak back on quickly as her friends walked over, giving her congratulations.

"No! No no no NO!" yelled Loki at the top of his lungs. "There has to be a mistake! I can't lose to the Wingless Wonder! It's just not possible!" he screamed, mist snorting from his nostrils.

"You can and you did," Cyril said simply, walking over to the younger dragon with a look so stern Loki was stopped in his tracks. "And you have disgraced yourself by acting so immaturely about your loss. You lost fair and square, Cyros did not cheat, she did not do anything wrong. You were the one who let your arrogance defeat you, Loki…And I believe you have a bet to live up to."

Everyone looked to Cyros. "So, what's it going to be?" asked Sparx, looking forwards to it.

"Delilah, call Rarity," said Cyros, narrowing her eyes at Loki with a smirk. "I've got an order for her. Loki gulped.

* * *

><p>The next day Loki was forced to wear a dragon sized pink dress of the most frilly variety ever seen in two dimensions, and forbidden to remove it until the end of the day.<p>

* * *

><p><em>That was pretty much the last of the trouble I got from old Loki, that taught him not to underestimate someone. He was still a jerk, but he stopped giving me such a hard time…And I think my mother might have 'had a talk' with him at some point…hehe, I don't mind so much anymore…But just because Loki was beaten, doesn't mean the story is over…things were just getting started.<em>

* * *

><p>A top a mountain overlooking a valley, a group of hairy, bipedal beings watched a small village. They were large, muscular creatures with short tails and brown stripes down their backs, wolverines.<p>

The largest of the group, a silver pendent with a moon on it, stood silhouetted by the full moon.

"Alright, boys, we've got some work to do," said the biggest, twirling pistols in his claws and giving a smirk.

* * *

><p>Duh duh duh, cliffhanger! See, I told you the dimension jumping had purpose! Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and it was worth waiting so long for!<p> 


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